My Gift To You
by laurendee
Summary: SandyKirsten fic. Kirsten makes some changes to her life after visiting Berkeley. "Instead, she felt like the girl she was 18 years ago, the girl who wanted to paint pictures and teach art. She felt like she’d been in a complete circle and was back at
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Don't own.

I included some information that I used in my first fanfic about Kandy, titled "How We Got To Where We Are".

So this is a Kandy Chrismukkah fic where Sandy and Kirsten come to some realizations about themselves as they exchange gifts. This chapter leads into the fluff, just so you know. Please let me know what you think. I tried to describe exactly how the dialogue would sound if it were said aloud and also tried really hard to describe what the characters are doing as they say the dialogue. Tell me if you enjoy any particular part or line of the fic, and please review. Thanks J

After the Chrismukkah festivities at the Wheelers', Sandy and Kirsten went home, relieved that the day was finally over. They headed up into their bedroom, Kirsten only to be reminded of the mess she had made earlier.

"Sandy, this reminds me," she said looking down at the broken vase on the floor, "of the conversation, or lack of a conversation I had with my dad earlier. I can't believe him! I just…I just don't know what to do…if I could ever speak to him again."

Sandy came up behind Kirsten and turned her to face him. "Honey, don't say that. You'll speak to him again. But don't think about it tonight. You're going to drive yourself nuts.

Ignoring Sandy's advice to stop thinking about it, Kirsten went on, "I don't know Sandy. What do you think I should do? I mean there's our Christmas party coming up next weekend. I'm going to see him there. It's just going to be weird. What am I going to say?"

Frustrated, Sandy said, "I don't know honey. This is between you and him. You're going to have to deal with him sooner or later, considering you are working for his company…or wife's company."

"Don't remind me Sandy. We still haven't pulled The Newport Group together yet. Things are still questionable. We might not be able to get this company headed in the right direction. Then what? I'm out of a job. I don't know what to do about anything anymore, Sandy," Kirsten said hopelessly as she head to the dresser to start undressing.

Seeing that Kirsten needed some comforting Sandy quickly said, "Oh baby yes you do. Look how far you've taken the company from where your dad left it. You got the top clients to resign their contracts. You got three big deals. You increased profits 5 in 6 months."

"Yeah but Julie helped with all that too," Kirsten said frustrated.

"Honey come on, we all know you're the one who's in charge of the company, you're just hiding in Julie's shadow."

Kirsten smiled faintly. She knew her husband was trying so hard to make her forget about the problems she was dealing with, and instead focus on relaxing with him.

"Now come on, lets forget about your dad, work, everything else tonight. Let's just focus on us. You know you still never told me what you want for Chrismukkah."

"You're right, we never told each other what we wanted. What do you want?"

"I asked you first," Sandy replied teasingly as he turned Kirsten around to face him, giving her a kiss on the lips.

"I don't know. Maybe just a peaceful Newport Group party with no big commotions from anyone? That'd be really nice."

"Aww but you know the odds of that happening? I can't control your dad, Julie, our kids, anyone else. Come on, think harder."

"Umm…well…there is this one designer suit I've been looking at for work that you could get me. If you want I'll take you to South Coast Plaza tomorrow to show you, since you're pretty bad at finding things for me on your own."

"I am not!" Sandy said smiling.

"Oh yes you are!" Kirsten replied, her voice starting to sound happier now as she joked with him. "Remember when I asked you for a tennis bracelet last year? You actually gave me with a bracelet that had a tennis charm on it. I mean I love playing tennis, but come on Sandy," she said laughing.

"So you're telling me you didn't want a tennis bracelet?"

"I did silly, just not that kind. But don't get me wrong I loved your gift. While we're there I'll show you what a tennis bracelet is."

"Okay, tomorrow it is. Show me exactly what you want."

"What do you want, Sandy?"

"Honestly?" he asked her shyly.

"Yeah," Kirsten replied, wondering what he wanted.

"Well actually, umm…and honey please don't take this the wrong way…but…umm…I…I'd really like to go back to Berkeley for a day and relive our college days. You know…you'd be like the Kirsten I met at Berkeley…just for a day."

"What?" Kirsten asked.

"It's just that over the years we kind of changed and are different than we were back then. Well I didn't change too much but you did, and I'd just like to see you act like you used to for a day."

A bit hurt, Kirsten replied, "Sandy what are you saying? That I changed? And if I did, that you don't like who I am now?"

Realizing that Kirsten was taking this the wrong way, Sandy said, "Baby I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that it'd be nice if we acted like college kids for just one day and had some fun again."

"Are you saying we don't have fun now?" Kirsten asked, even more hurt.

"Well its just that we are so focused on work and all these parties, galas, Newpsie events, and other things it just seems that we don't ever let loose anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" she asked quietly, hurt in her voice.

"Kirsten, I love our life. I'd just like to go back to Berkeley for a day and see you act like you used to."

"I can't believe you'd ask me to do that! What does that say about me now? This is what you want as your present, and a present is something a person asks for because they want, so apparently you want me to change, whether it be for a day or for good!"

"No I don't Kirsten! Come on, you're jumping to conclusions!"

"You brought it up! So what exactly did you want me to change Sandy, huh? My hair, my clothes, my job, what? What is it that you don't like about me?"

"Just forget it Kirsten. I'm sorry I brought it up," Sandy said defeated, walking back over to the other dresser to get out some pajamas.

Kirsten turned around as her husband said that, hearing the defeat and frustration in his voice, seeing him look so sad with his shoulders down and a look of disgust on his face. Quietly she said, "I just…I just want to know what you want to change about me Sandy, even if its something you want me to change just for a day. Maybe I didn't realize I changed. Tell me."

"Kirsten I don't want you to change. I love you the way you are. I love who you've become. I mean look at you. Look at how beautiful you are, how successful you are. You're perfect, Kirsten I just thought it'd be fun to act like kids again. You know, escape our mature lives for a day."

"How have I changed since Berkeley?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the Kirsten I knew would never wear such an uptight outfit," he began, pulling on her blouse that was tucked into her dress pants, "She'd wear a skimpy rock band tee shirt," he said as he lifted her shirt up to reveal her stomach, "and low bell-bottoms, show her tattoo, have wild colored hair."

"I almost forgot I have a tattoo," she said smiling faintly.

"And not to knock the gifts you want, but the Kirsten I knew would never ask for an expensive suit or a fancy bracelet. She's want concert tickets, more beer, a new tattoo, anything but uptight work clothes."

She started to blush. She knew Sandy was right. She would never ask for these kinds of gifts back in college. Nor would she ever think twice about what people thought her. As she started to realize this, Sandy went on, "And more importantly, the Kirsten I knew made sure she had fun. Remember every weekend? Now those were parties. Not these fancy Newpsie fashion shows."

"I remember them," she said nodding her head.

"I'm just looking for one night with the wild girl who caught my eye," he said grabbing hold of her hands.

"If we had never met each other, would I have caught your eye now? Like if you happened to meet me at a party like we met back then."

"Honestly…I don't know…I mean you're beautiful, but truthfully I'd be a little intimidated by you, but that doesn't matter anymore, Kirsten, because I love you."

"And I love you." she said, still thinking that Sandy wanted her to change for more than just one day.

That night she thought about her life in Berkeley compared to her life in Newport. She came to the conclusion that she really did change. A while ago when Sandy was trying to convince her to let Ryan stay, he mentioned that she'd never become her parents. Sure enough, here she was following in their footsteps. And it hadn't just started recently. She'd been following in their footsteps for a long time. She couldn't remember exactly when she started changing, but she now realized that for all these years she's been hiding her true self inside. Maybe Sandy only wanted her to change for one day, but she decided that she would make some changes to preserve some of her and Sandy's ideals from their college days.

She turned around to wrap her arms around Sandy and smiled. She had an idea. Boy, was he going to be surprised with what she had in store for him. He wanted a day with the Kirsten he first met at Berkeley, and she assured herself that her husband would get just what he wanted, and then some.


	2. What He Didn't Expect

So here's chapter 2. I intended to finish the fic in two chapters, but of course I got carried away and can't stop writing. If only school papers flowed this easily. Enjoy it and let me know what you think. Ideas, suggestions, and reviews are welcomed and desired.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Special thanks: **elzed** for some helpful suggestions

Enjoy!

Sunday

Sandy awoke to find Kirsten not beside him. He got up, frantically yelling, "Kirsten? Kirsten?"

Kirsten quickly poked her head out of the walk-in closet and said, "Good morning, Sandy."

"Kirsten? What are you doing?"

"Nothing, looking for something to wear," she replied trying to hide her stumble for words.

"You're dressed," he said, directing his eyes to her sweater and jeans.

"Right, I know, I mean I'm just looking for something to wear to the Newport Group Christmas party next week."

"Okay," Sandy replied, still confused by Kirsten's jumpiness. He headed over to the dresser.

Kirsten took this as an opportunity to clean up the closet before Sandy noticed anything. The truth was that she had had trouble sleeping and decided to go look at some of their old stuff from Berkeley. It'd been a while. At first she was a bit hesitant to open the boxes. After all, she was a different person than she was back then, but she did want to look back on her past. Besides, she needed to do this for Sandy's present. Slowly, she opened a box, unaware of what she would find in it. Old memories of Berkeley began to flood through her mind as she saw, felt, and smelt what once was.

The first thing she came across was the brown sweater she wore when she and Sandy first kissed. She smiled, thinking as to why this was on top of the box. This was what she gave to Sandy as a wedding present. Slowly, she began going through the items, fondly remembering their importance in her and Sandy's past, leaving a few aside that caught her eye. After a while her memories were interrupted by the sound of Sandy getting out of bed calling her name as he was startled by her not being in bed with him as he was always up first.

After she hid all the boxes, she headed into the kitchen to make some coffee for her and Sandy.

"You ready to go honey?" Sandy asked his wife, kissing her on the forehead as he came into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Alright then. I can't wait to see what an actual tennis bracelet is and to see what you want for Chrismukkah."

Kirsten smiled, thinking to herself, "You only think we are going to pick out presents for me, little do you know, I am fooling you and am going to get presents for you", but opted to say, "Thanks for doing this with me. I mean you're giving up surfing to go shopping with me."

"Anything for my wife," he replied, kissing her cheek.

At the mall Kirsten quickly picked out presents for Sandy to buy her. Ever since her conversation with him yesterday what she wanted wasn't important to her anymore. She was more excited about Sandy's present. When Sandy insisted she wait for him outside of the stores so he could buy her presents, she took the opportunity to get a few things she needed for his.

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Friday of same week

Kirsten told Sandy that she and he would be taking the day off of work. She awoke to find him out surfing already. She smiled to herself. It was going to be one fun weekend. She got up and went into the walk-in closet, getting everything she needed for Sandy's present.

Sandy came home from surfing and went into the bedroom to get some fresh clothes, and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. He noticed the bathroom door was shut. "Kir? I'm home."

"Oh hey Sandy! Umm…give me a second…I'll be right out!" Kirsten had butterflies in her stomach. She had no idea what Sandy would do when he saw her. She had no idea what she would do when she saw herself as she still hadn't looked into the mirror yet. Slowly, she walked over to it, glancing slowly from the bottom up. "Woah!" she accidentally said out loud.

"Kir? You okay?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Be right out!" Kirsten took a deep breath and opened the door, hoping Sandy would like what he saw.

"Kirsten? Kirsten? Is that my Kirsten? What…what…what did you do?" Sandy asked with a surprised look on his face. His eyes stared at his wife. She looked and smelt totally different. Her hair, which usually smelled of sweet honey and vanilla, smelt of heavy hairspray and gel, which was holding in crimps. Her makeup was heavy, with bright blue eye shadow, dark black liner that extended past her eyes, and bright red lipstick. Very different from the classy makeup she always wore that softly accented her blue eyes and warm smile. Sandy's eyes looked down, widening as he noticed her apparel. A cut-off tee shirt from one of the concerts they went to back in college that had one of those plastic clips with fake diamonds on it giving the shirt a tight, crooked look, and tight, black stretch pants, which exposed a substantial amount of her stomach and her bellybutton. She was wearing white leg warmers and an old pair of sandals from college that exposed her black painted toenails.

"Kirsten?" was all Sandy could say.

"Do you like it?" she asked nervously, consciously putting her hands around her bare waist.

"Do I like it? I love it! You look hot, baby! But what are you doing? And what is that smell? It smells so familiar…"

"It's patchouli," she said smiling.

"I think I'm in a time warp!"

"You're not! I have a surprise for you."

"Isn't this the surprise?"

"No. There's more. A lot more. Sandy, we're going to Berkeley for the weekend."

"What?"

"You heard me! We're taking a road trip to Berkeley. Don't worry the boys already know and I've gone over the rules with them. We'll be back Sunday night."

"I don't know what to say," Sandy said sweetly, his eyes forming tears in them.

"Say 80s because that's what we'll be listening to on the way there," she said, picking up a B-52s cassette and showing it to him.

"Aw Kirsten," Sandy said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you! You know you didn't have to do this!"

"No, I did have to, for you. I love you!"

"I love you!" he smiled at her.

She interrupted the moment taking his hand and saying, "Alright Sandy let's get going!"

"But I didn't pack anything yet", he said laughing, excited that they were going on a getaway.

"That's why I already did it for you. Everything is in the car."

"Kirsten you're the best!" Sandy said, pulling Kirsten in for a kiss.

Kirsten pulled away, saying, "Sandy there will be plenty of time for that later on, but we need to get going. I have made plans for tonight. We've got to get there by 7!"

"Okay, as long as I can kiss you later!" Sandy replied, smiling as Kirsten led him out of the bedroom and to the Range Rover.

Let me know what you think!


	3. Kirsten's Mural

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything.

Note: This was originally meant to be a short fic where Sandy and Kirsten exchange Chrismukkah gifts. I have an idea that I'm going to incorporate into the fic that will make this into a longer fic, and it kind of changes the direction of the story, so the new description is this:

A visit to Berkeley gets Kirsten thinking about making some big changes in her life.

Here's chapter 3. Thanks for reviewing the other chapters. Enjoy and let me know what you think of this one!

As they drove up to Berkeley, Sandy asked Kirsten, "So why'd you do this?"

"For you…because you told me you wanted this."

"Aww baby you didn't have to do this much. I just wanted to see you loosen up a little, that's all."

"Well there are more surprises. I don't think you know what this weekend is, do you?"

"Umm…no," Sandy said confused as he tried to remember all of their special occasions and couldn't come up with any that were this weekend.

"It's the annual alumni weekend. I know you've mentioned it to me a couple of times over the years but we never went. I called and got us tickets to the dinner."

"You did? Oh Kirsten…you did way too much," Sandy said smiling, reaching out to grab hold of her hand, "by the way, you don't have to wear that. You look way too sexy."

"Thanks. Did you really think I would? Come on Sandy," she said playfully, looking down at her and Sandy's linked hands and saying softly, "I just wanted you to see that I could still be who I was back then."

"I knew you could."

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As they approached Berkeley, Sandy said, "Ah, back to the old days. It feels good. So what hotel are we staying at?"

Kirsten laughed, "Well, tomorrow we'll be staying at a hotel. Tonight we'll be staying in the Range Rover."

"What?" Sandy asked, turning his head toward Kirsten as he stopped at a red light.

"I thought to make this trip seem really like the past we should sleep in here, kind of like when we lived in a mail truck," Kirsten said smiling.

"Baby now this why I love you so much," he said leaning over to kiss her.

Kirsten kissed him back, saying in between kisses, "Oh yeah? Why's that again?"

"Because I know that you're only doing this for me. Honey you're a hotel girl. Not a camper. Trust me, I remember the summer of 1998. Camping with you is no fun."

"Mmm...I wonder if that's changed at all since then. You know, just for the record, it was disgusting in that tent and we were on a family vacation, you were trying to kiss me while we were in a disgusting, dirty tent and Seth was right next to us. And besides, we aren't sleeping in a tent this time. Plus we're alone, so you never know."

"Woohoo!" Sandy said excitedly.

Suddenly they heard horns blowing behind them to go since the light changed.

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The rest of the night they spent riding around past familiar places, recalling events from their past. They came up to their old house. "Ah it feels like the year 1987, doesn't it? We had just moved in while you were pregnant with Seth."

"Yeah, it does. It seems like only yesterday we bought this house. There's Seth's room," Kirsten said, pointing to one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Yup. Remember how you insisted we renovate the attic so we could have our bedroom next to Seth's, and that we repaint it blue even though it was just painted white before we bought it? And then you surprised me that day when you painted the teddy bear mural on the wall."

"Yeah. I was 8 months pregnant then. It was my pregnancy project. I wonder if the new owners left it up."

"Should we see?"

Kirsten looked back at Sandy with a response that said she wanted to, but didn't think these homeowners would want strangers coming into their home to look around.

Nevertheless, a few minutes later, there they were, standing on the doorstep ringing the doorbell. Sandy gave Kirsten his "Berkeley" sweatshirt he was wearing so that she could cover up a little. Sandy and Kirsten hoped the homeowners were the ones they sold the house to. Thankfully, it was them. Both parties recognized each other and the homeowners invited the Cohens' in. Memories flooded the Cohens' minds as they made their way through their old house. It was so different from their house in Newport Beach. This house was very small. It only had one bedroom until the Cohens' had the attic turned into two additional bedrooms upstairs. The Poolhouse alone was about the size of the entire first floor.

As they reached the top of the stairs to explore the small, second floor, they slowly went into Seth's old bedroom.

"Wow," Kirsten gasped as she looked at the room in awe.

"The mural's beautiful, isn't it?" The female homeowner said. "It was here when we bought the house from you and its perfect since this is our grandson's room when we babysit him. It fit the room perfectly."

"Kirsten painted that," Sandy said softly.

"You did?" the woman asked, looking at Kirsten.

A bit emotional from seeing such an old painting of her own, Kirsten stuttered, "I…I…painted this when I was pregnant with our son. This is the whole reason we wanted to come inside. I was curious if it was still on the wall," she said as she rubbed her hand over it.

"Oh this definitely wasn't coming down," the woman said firmly, "it's beautiful! You must be an artist?"

"No," Kirsten said quietly and giving a small laugh, "I'm not an artist."

"Well you should be. I'll be downstairs. Take your time," the woman said.

Sandy came up behind Kirsten, wrapping his arms around her. "You okay, baby?"

Kirsten nodded and held on to Sandy's arms. "It's just…all these memories."

"I know. I'm surprised the mural's in such good condition after all these years," he said while looking at it.

"It could use some touchups. Maybe I should touch it up for them? I mean they were nice enough to let us come inside," Kirsten said anxiously.

Sandy didn't know what to say. Sure he was happy the homeowners let them in, but this would mean less time alone with his wife on their private weekend. He didn't dare ask how long it would take as he could see this painting was sentimental to his wife. He simply responded, "Okay."

An hour later Kirsten was touching up the mural while Sandy conversed with their new friends inside the Cohens' old house. He went upstairs to bring her some tea but ended up just leaving it on a table when he saw how captivated his wife was with painting. Sandy smiled to himself, thinking about how Kirsten used to paint all the time when they were in college. She even painted a portrait of them together.

Two hours later, Kirsten finished, and the Cohens' conversed with the homeowners a little longer.

It was already 10:00pm when they left. "Sandy I'm sorry I made you wait while I repainted the mural. I just felt like I needed to do this."

"It's okay. I'm glad you did it. Boy, I don't know how you could paint so neatly on the wall yet get it all over yourself, AND on my sweatshirt!" Sandy said jokingly.

Kirsten looked down at the sweatshirt. "Yikes, I'm sorry!"

"So where to now? You ready to get some rest or are you up for more fun?"

"More fun," Kirsten said laughing.

They headed to the campus to take a walk.

"Mmm…this feels good being up here," Kirsten said as she reached out for Sandy's hand.

"It does! Who would've thought we'd get to go into our old house? Hey, I have fond memories of this place?" Sandy said to Kirsten as he pointed to the library.

"Yes! It's where we got so much studying done!"

"If you call secretly making-out behind the romance novels section studying, then yeah." Sandy was referring to the fact that he and Kirsten met in the library everyday, sometimes this being the only place they saw each other for a few days at a time since Sandy's law school schedule and internship and Kirsten's art history degree and part-time job kept them very busy. This was a central location for them to meet and unwind for a while before heading to their next class or work.

Kirsten let go of Sandy's hand to face him, skipping backwards. She was excited thinking about their days at Berkeley. It was fun reminiscing. "We were pretty good at hiding it, weren't we?" she asked teasingly.

"No! We were good at covering! Remember when the librarian heard you moaning and asked you if you were okay when we left that day?"

"Yeah," Kirsten said starting to giggle uncontrollably, "I told her I had a tooth pulled that day and I was still in pain. Or what about the time those preppy kids caught you on top of me making-out and they told on us."

"Yeah, like if that isn't high school to do," Sandy said joking. The truth was that Sandy and Kirsten were like two high school sweethearts in college. They couldn't keep their lips off each other.

"I know! We had a good time. We never sneak around making-out anymore."

"Well, Seth and Ryan have caught us in the kitchen a few times."

"True. We should do it more often to aggravate them, or show some affection in public more often. It's fun."

"I agree." Sandy couldn't believe it. Not only did he get a surprise, romantic trip to Berkeley with his wife, but his wife had suddenly become a teenager again who only wanted to make-out with him and have fun. Maybe this was what she needed. Maybe instead of just doing this to please him she realized that she needed to dothis for herself. He just hoped that once they went back to Newport Beach she would still feel the same way.

TBC

Leave me some love!


	4. The Epiphany

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything.

After a rather wild evening in the Range Rover, Sandy and Kirsten spent the next day touring Berkeley and going to the alumni dinner that night.

Back in a designer suit with a matching purse and shoes, Kirsten linked her arm to Sandy's as they made their way around the ball room catching up with their fellow classmates and friends.

"I can't believe how many people changed. I mean I never thought that Joe would start his own business? The kid couldn't hold a job for more than a week," Sandy said to Kirsten.

"Well, you'd be surprised. Some people change, others are still thinking about what they wanted back when they were in college," Kirsten replied, talking more to herself than to Sandy. She just didn't feel like the same person anymore. She wasn't sure if it was the old atmosphere of being with her friends from college, from painting the mural last night, or due to the fact that she and Sandy were away from Newport Beach, but Kirsten didn't feel like the person she was yesterday morning when they left Newport Beach. As she told her friends what she'd been doing with her life for the last 18 years, they responded with impressed looks and said congratulations on becoming so successful. Kirsten just nodded. Many times since becoming such a successful real estate developer Kirsten thought about how proud she was to get where she was in her career, but now she didn't care about her career at all. She did anything but brag at the alumni reception. Instead, she felt like the girl she was 18 years ago, the girl who wanted to paint pictures and teach art. She felt like she'd been in a complete circle and was back at the beginning.

While they were getting some drinks at the bar, Sandy said, "You okay? You seem a little quiet."

"I'm fine," Kirsten replied, though her facial expression told Sandy there was a bigger explanation to be said.

"Are you sure?" Sandy asked her again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Its just weird being here acting like it's the eighties again. We haven't seen these people in years and it all makes you really remember the good times."

"Yeah…and?"

"Nothing, I just…miss those fun times. That's all."

"I do too baby, but we still have our fun now," Sandy said as he took a sip of his martini.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Kirsten asked smiling.

"Not at all…how could you say that we don't have fun…umm…last Valentine's Day for example? How could I forget the fun we had that night…chocolates and you. What a good combination."

Kirsten just nodded and laughed. "See I told you that you would enjoy coming here and reliving the past for a day," Sandy said.

"You might be right," she replied, nodding her head. "Let me ask in you something, do you think there's anyone here who is still trying to find out who they are?"

"That's a pretty deep question for a Saturday night full of martinis and heavy rock music. I would think most people have found themselves. They should. It's been 18 years."

"Sometimes it takes years to find yourself. Maybe the person forgot who they wanted to become," Kirsten replied defensively.

"True. But why are we talking about this? We've found ourselves, honey."

"Sandy Cohen and Kirsten Nichol?" With that the Cohens' were interrupted by another friend. Sandy still sensed that something was bothering Kirsten but wasn't quite sure what it was.

The next morning Sandy and Kirsten headed back to Newport Beach. Kirsten kept thinking about how similar she felt now to how she did back in college…she felt like becoming an art teacher. She started to think about acting on her ideas. What if she did make this a reality? What would Sandy think of it? Worst yet, Caleb? She stopped herself from over-thinking as she wasn't even sure that she'd still have these strong feelings once they got back to Newport Beach. Her thinking was interrupted by Sandy saying, "You okay? You seemed a little far out last night."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know…you just seemed lost, for lack of a better word."

Kirsten felt butterflies in her stomach. Now would be the perfect time to tell Sandy what she was thinking about…it wasn't like she was going to change careers tomorrow…just think about it. "Sandy?"

"Yeah?"

She felt her mouth go dry. "I…I….I had fun this weekend," she managed to blurt out, making a frustrated face to herself for not having enough courage to tell Sandy what she was really thinking.

"I did too."

Kirsten didn't change her mind once they got to Newport Beach. In fact, just the opposite occurred; Kirsten felt even more strongly toward her feelings. On Monday morning she went in to work early to do some research without anyone in the Newport Group finding out what she was doing. Caleb especially couldn't find out. Not yet at least.

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For Chrismukkah Kirsten got the tennis bracelet she wanted last year plus the designer suit she wanted this year. It was a little over 2 weeks since Kirsten had her epiphany. The only difference was now she had acted upon it. Little did Sandy know there was something else she wanted a lot more than those materialistic things. It was something she would have in less than a year.

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It was now January 10th. Kirsten was running late from a meeting at work. Sandy was the first one home. He grabbed the mail and quickly went through the envelopes. He stopped when he came across an envelope from USC. Thoughts raced through his mind, "_Did Seth or Ryan get a scholarship to USC_?" Then he realized that the envelope was addressed to Kirsten.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Kirsten said as she walked into the kitchen and put her briefcase on the island chair and quickly grabbed a plate of food, "I'm so hungry!"

Sandy didn't want to bring up the letter at dinner with Seth and Ryan there. While he thought it might have just been an invitation to an art event as Kirsten sometimes got invitations to art events in the area, he wasn't really sure. He thought back to when they were in Berkeley last month and Kirsten started asking him questions about one finding out who they really are. He rejected the second idea, but nonetheless waited until they were in their bedroom later that night, and then said, "Hey Kirsten, you got some mail today. This was addressed to you." Kirsten finished putting on her pajamas and took the envelope from Sandy. Her cheeks turned red as she read the front of it and realized who it was from.

"Oh," was all she was able to muster, still thinking about what to say.

"Planning on taking classes at USC?" Sandy said half joking.

Kirsten looked up at Sandy and took a deep breath, "Actually, yes…"

Sandy looked at Kirsten with a surprised look on his face. Never did he think his wife would actually go back to school. Well, he thought it but never thought that she would really do it. "_Take classes? For what? Was Kirsten talking about herself when she was talking about one finding out who they really are?_" he thought as he continued to stare at her and wait for an explanation.

One of my more deep thinking chapters. That's what philosophy class does to you. Let me know what you think! Next chapter will feature Kirsten telling her family. How will they react?


	5. The Portraits

DISCLAIMER: Don't own.

She was nervous to tell Sandy. Sure he always wanted her to become an art teacher as he tried relentlessly to persuade her to change careers many times after she started working for Caleb but he knew that once Kirsten was set in her ways she wouldn't budge. The truth was that she never wanted to work for Caleb, it just sort of happened. One day he offered her a job and since they had just moved to Newport and didn't have a lot of money she thought that it'd be a good idea to work for Caleb for a little while, even if it wasn't what she wanted to do. Though she only planned to work for Caleb for a year, she ended up working her way up to the top, 15 years later now the company's CFO.

She blurted out quickly, "I want to change careers. I spoke to a counselor at USC who told me I need to take a few classes in order to have my teaching qualifications. I want to be an art teacher."

"What?" Sandy said as if he didn't hear her correctly.

"I don't know how to explain it but after repainting that mural I just fell in love with art again."

"You're going to leave the Newport Group just like that? Kirsten you're the best person they have."

"I'm going to miss working for my dad, but ever since we went to Berkeley a few weeks ago I started feeling this way and I haven't been persuaded to change my mind at all."

"What about your dad? What is he going to do without you? How is he going to react?"

"I don't know. He's not going to be happy. I haven't figured out what to say to him yet. Are you okay with this? You seem a little surprised?"

"Well yeah, honey, I mean you haven't even mentioned anything about art in at least 15 years."

"Do you not want me to change careers?"

"No, I'm not discouraging you, I'm just thinking about how different it'll be with you bringing art supplies to school, going to parent teacher conferences, doing stuff like that. So different from bringing home mini real estate models and contracts."

"I know. I'm excited," she said smiling and then said, "You're not!" disappointedly.

"I am. I'd just think about it a little more before telling your dad."

"Well I'll tell him when the semester is over in May. That'll give him a few months to hire a new CFO before I start."

"When are your classes?"

"Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Remember, we can't have any parties on those nights because my dad can't find out that I'm taking classes."

"Okay," Sandy said still comprehending everything.

"Sandy I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you about this before I registered for classes. It's just that I wanted to make sure this is how I really feel. And I've realized that it is. I was afraid you'd be mad that I wanted to do this and I wanted to avoid a fight if it was just a temporary feeling. But it's not. Are you mad at me?"

"No honey, I'm not mad, just surprised." Sandy couldn't believe his wife's plans. 20 years ago he wanted her to be an art teacher, but things changed since then. He wasn't sure he could get used to his wife grading how well a kid could color-in-the-lines or how well they could finger paint. He didn't mean to sound unsupportive, but after watching his wife become a huge business mogul after all these years he wasn't sure he could grasp her changing careers like this. Plus he knew that if Kirsten ever changed her mind and wanted to come back to the Newport Group her father would never let her and he knew that would devastate her, or maybe it wouldn't now that she was into art again, he wasn't sure.

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May

Kirsten was excited. She was one final away from having her teaching requirements completed. Her last final was to sketch a portrait, which she insisted that Sandy and the boys not look at until after she got her grade on it. She spent hours in their bedroom sitting at the table by the bay window working on it, even giving up "yogalates" and some Newport social events to work on it.

Sandy couldn't believe that Kirsten hadn't changed her mind since she first told him she wanted to become an art teacher. In fact, just the opposite occurred as he found his wife taking on a much more creative side, repainting and redecorating almost the entire house in her free time.

Sandy and the boys were setting the table for dinner as they heard Kirsten open the front door and run over to them shouting, "I did it, straight-As, and now I can teach art!" She placed the covered sketch on the kitchen table. All three of the Cohen boys looked at it anxiously.

Kirsten ran up to Sandy, taking his eyes off the covered sketch and looking at her. She wrapped herself in his arms and jumped on to him as his hands made their way around to her back and lifted her up. He smiled, his wife was pretty reserved and it took a lot for her to show this must excitement visibly. As he lowered Kirsten back down he took her face in his hands and kissed her saying sweetly, "I'm so proud of you baby," and then a bit more anxiously, "Now can we see your sketch?"

"Okay!" she gushed grabbing the covered sketch. "Now you guys aren't obligated to like it, but I hope you do."

"I'm sure we will!" Sandy said. "Right boys?"

"Definitely," Ryan replied.

"Sure thing mom, no doubt," Seth said.

"Here it is!" Kirsten pulled away the covering and exposed a beautiful pencil sketched drawing of her family.

"Kirsten…" Sandy said in awe.

"Mom…" Seth and Ryan both said at the same time.

"Do you like it?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, it's beautiful…but I don't recognize the photo that you sketched this from," Seth said confused.

Kirsten told them the story of how she decided that for her pencil sketch she was going to sketch her family but that she didn't want to use a photo they already had of the family so she just drew a freehand sketch without looking at any pictures, only using her mind to sketch them.

"That's why you may have noticed me really eyeing you all up lately," she said laughing.

That night while Sandy showered Kirsten got Sandy's other surprise ready. When he came into the bedroom, she grabbed his hand and led him to the bed. "I have another surprise for you. A little one. You've been so supportive of me changing careers and I really appreciate that. I just want to thank you for supporting my dream. You're the best. I hope you like it." She handed him the wrapped present.

"Kirsten! It's beautiful!" Sandy exclaimed as he stared at the 5x7 framed portrait his wife sketched. It was a sketch of their wedding photo. "Could I put it in my office? I've been meaning to bring our wedding photo to the new office but I haven't yet and this is perfect!"

"Sure. It's yours. Do you like it?"

"I love it. Not only do I love this piece of art, I love the woman in the photo and the artist who drew it," Sandy said sweetly as he smiled at Kirsten.

"And I love the man in the photo," Kirsten replied back with a smile, "I love him so much."

Sandy carefully put the photo on the nightstand and pulled Kirsten in for a hug saying, "Thank you baby."

"Your welcome. I'm glad you like it," Kirsten replied while laughing as Sandy started to kiss her on the neck, "Sandy that tickles!"

"Fine," Sandy said playfully as he pushed Kirsten backward onto the bed. He brushed her hair away from her face and looked her in the eyes and said, "As beautiful as that picture is, you're more beautiful in person," and he leaned down and kissed Kirsten on the lips. Kirsten kissed him back and smiled to herself.

**Let me know what you think. Would you like another chapter with Kirsten telling Caleb? Your suggestions and reviews are important to me and I appreciate your feedback. **


	6. A New Career

DISCLAIMER: Don't own.

Note: I never noticed the couch in Sandy and Kirsten's room. I thought there was a chair in the corner, I had no idea it was a couch. I decided to incorporate a couch scene in to the fic. I'd like to thank all those who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate it! As always, let me know what you think of this chapter and enjoy!

Kirsten went in to work early and anxiously watched from her office window as each Newport Group employee pulled into the parking lot and walked in. Her father would be coming in any minute, wondering why she hadn't finished a document that she was supposed to finish the day before. She couldn't concentrate on doing any work the last few days. She got some coffee from the break room and on the way back, a thought struck her mind…she would soon have a new office, or not even an office, but a desk to call home, which would replace the office she called home for the last 11 years. This office that was filled with Monet paintings and expensive couches would be replaced by crayons and stacks of art projects to be graded. Kirsten smiled. It was definitely going to be different.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Caleb talking to Julie in the hallway. She clinched her hands together and played with her wedding rings. Caleb would be stopping into her office in any minute, as it was routine for him to walk in to the office with Julie and then to come see Kirsten in her office.

Sure enough, he walked into her office and said, "Good morning, Kiki."

"Hey dad," Kirsten said trying to hide her nervousness.

"Did you finish the 2nd quarter financial report yet? I'm waiting on that."

"I'll have it on your desk by 10am."

"I'll be waiting for it," Caleb said as he started to leave Kirsten's office.

Kirsten knew she had to tell him now. It would just get harder as time went on and it wouldn't be fair to not give her father a sufficient amount of time to fill her position. "Dad, wait!"

Caleb turned around, wondering what Kirsten wanted.

"I know you're probably going to hate me for this, but it's something I have to tell you." Kirsten paused to regain her composure. Caleb was just staring at her and listening intently, so she took a deep breath and continued, "A few months ago I realized that I had forgotten about something I always loved and still love. I had forgotten about it all these years and then one day it just hit me that I had been leaving something out of my life that I'm really passionate about. And that's art."

As soon as he heard the word "art", Caleb knew what Kirsten was going to say. He tried to hide his disappointment but wasn't sure if Kirsten could see it in his face already.

"I decided to finish up my art education degree this spring at USC."

"Art education degree?" Caleb said out loud. He had no idea Kirsten had been taking classes. He thought she was going to say she wanted to open up a gallery again.

"Yeah, it was my dream a long time ago to become an art teacher."

"I thought you wanted to open a gallery," Caleb said sarcastically.

"I did, but I also wanted to do this. You and I were not really on speaking terms so…" Kirsten fumbled for words. She hated confrontation and she could hear it in her father's voice that he was getting angry.

"So what are you telling me? I have a business to run, don't waste my time."

Kirsten fumbled in her briefcase for her official letter of resignation. Her hands were shaking and she was afraid to look her father in the eye. "I'm sorry. I have to follow my heart. I got hired as an elementary art teacher for Newport Beach Public Elementary. I start this fall."

Caleb grabbed the envelope out of her hand furiously and said, "I hope you're happy," as he left and slammed the door shut.

Kirsten was left with her head in her hands. At least she told him.

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Kirsten was relieved when she came home to find her husband there already. She insisted that they wait until after the family ate dinner to talk about what happened with Caleb. She didn't want the boys to know anything more than what they already knew about how Caleb and Kandy did not get along too well back in the late '80s.

As they headed up to their bedroom, Sandy said, "So, tell me, how are you doing? It must have been so hard for you today."

"Yeah, it was. I don't think he'll ever talk to me again," Kirsten said as she began to take off her business suit.

"That's not true. It'll take a few days for it to sink in," Sandy said, reaching out and rubbing her arm.

"I know. I just don't want to let him down…I feel like I did Sandy."

"How could you say that? Look what you've done for him and the Newport Group? Do I need to remind you of all that you've done? We'd be here for a week."

Kirsten smiled, then got serious again and said, "I mean work is going to be so weird tomorrow!"

"I know. But you can't rush things. Just talk business like usual. Don't let him see that it's affecting you. Just think, after he gets used to the idea of you becoming an art teacher you can show him your work. Just wait till he sees how good you are."

Kirsten interrupted him saying, "Oh Sandy, I don't think I'll ever show him anything."

"Why not? You're work is amazing, even more amazing than what you've done for the Newport Group."

"You really think its good?" she asked looking unconvinced.

"Yeah. I've always thought that. Ever since you painted that San Francisco landscape for me back in college." Sandy was referring to a painting Kirsten made and gave to him after they had been dating a few months. They were starting to get really close but Sandy already had signed up for an internship in New York for the summer so she gave him the painting to remind himself of her and of the San Francisco landscape.

"Thanks," she said smiling as she leaned in and hugged him.

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The next few days were awkward for Kirsten. She buried herself in work and put her head down whenever she saw Caleb in the hallway. It wasn't like he was talking to her anyway. When she saw him at the weekly meeting, he ignored her when she came into the room. Worst yet, when she started giving her quarterly report, he rudely interrupted and said that he had business to take care of and to carry on without him. When Kirsten went over to his house to help Julie pick out a layout for the magazine, he ignored her "Hi".

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It had been 2 weeks and Caleb was still ignoring Kirsten, despite her "Hi's" and voice mails asking him to call her back because she wanted to talk. Sandy knew his wife was frustrated with the situation so he decided to take matters into his own hands. It wouldn't be the first time he stood up to Caleb. Apparently, Sandy's speech about "passion" and "dreams" seemed to work as the following day Caleb decided to talk to Kirsten in fear that one day, she might not talk to him because of his ignoring her now.

It was after 7pm when he walked over to Kirsten's office and looked in through the blinds and saw his daughter was still hard at work. This time, Kirsten was so involved in working that she didn't even see him standing there watching her. After standing there for a few minutes daydreaming about how proud he was of his daughter, he knocked on the door, hoping he could make peace with her.

"Hey, mind if I come in?" he asked.

"No, come in," Kirsten said nervously, "I'll be done with this report in a few minutes. I'm just making some minor adjustments," she said as she continued to type on the computer.

"Kiki stop. You don't have to finish that tonight."

"I don't mind doing it."

Caleb walked over to the shelf filled with model home designs. Amongst the models were a few personal pictures Kirsten had put there. Kirsten wasn't one to put a lot of pictures in her office, but the few she had meant a lot to her. Caleb's eyes focused on the picture of Kirsten and him that was taken at the Newport Group 30th year anniversary celebration. He said to Kirsten, "Look at us in this picture Kiki. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the Newport Group's 30th year. That was before all the drama started."

"Drama?" Kirsten asked bluntly.

"Yeah, I mean look what's happened since then. I bet you never thought I'd step down from CEO."

"More than that, I never thought you'd appoint Julie as your replacement," Kirsten said half smiling.

"Well, like I said, I had to Kiki, for my marriage. And remember how the company almost went completely bankrupt? It was you who saved the company, Kiki," Caleb said, now turning to face her. "I'm sorry I got up during your quarterly report. You did a great job answering the supplier's questions."

"How'd you know?"

Caught, Caleb embarrassedly admitted he was observing the meeting from behind the blinds. "I was so proud of you, Kiki."

"Thanks."

There was an awkward silence.

"Dad, I'm sorry that you're angry with me. I want you to know that I don't mean to hurt you. That's the last thing I want to do. I feel terrible for leaving the company. I really do. But I've thought about this long and hard and my feelings haven't changed."

"I know. Why do you think I left grad school? I had the vision of this company in mind and I was ready to start it. I realize that you have to do what's best for you. I'm just having a hard time seeing you take that advice. It's always been like that, hasn't it Kiki?"

"Dad," Kirsten said standing up and going over to where Caleb was standing, "I know you've always wanted what you thought was best for me. I know you thought you were looking out for me. It's just that sometimes I have my own ideas of what was best for me. And believe me, I thought maybe I was just going through a phase with this career change thing, but it's not a phase."

"You can't control how you feel, Kiki. I'm just sorry that I'll be losing my best employee and jealous of the one who will be gaining the best employee." Caleb reached out to hug Kirsten, to which Kirsten embraced him back. Neither were frequent huggers, but it felt good to do. After a few minutes, Caleb said, "How about continuing to help Julie with the magazine? You know she needs the help and you're so gifted in art, I'd really appreciate it."

"You can count on me," Kirsten said smiling.

"Thanks. Well, I better get going. You should too. Thank Sanford for me, will you? He made me realize that I needed to talk to you."

"Really?" Kirsten asked smiling, thinking about her husband, "I'll do that. Thanks for understanding dad."

Caleb nodded, then walked toward the door, stopping when he opened it and said, "I'm proud of you, Kiki."

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Kirsten hurried home to Sandy.

Sandy was relieved when he looked up from his surfing magazine to find a smile on his wife's face as she walked into the bedroom.

"Hey baby, how was work?" he asked her.

"Good, thanks to you," Kirsten replied as she sat down on the couch next to him, putting her hand on his arm and rubbing her hand up and down his arm. "Thanks for talking to him, I appreciate it," she said as she leaned her head on Sandy's shoulder.

"My pleasure, baby, I'm glad that you guys worked everything out. You did, right?"

"Yeah, we did," Kirsten said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad to see you're in such a good mood. I missed seeing that pretty smile on your face the last two weeks. You must be hungry. I put your plate of dinner in the fridge. Want me to go warm it up?"

"No," Kirsten replied seductively, "I'm hungry, but not hungry for _that_ right now," she said as she threw Sandy's magazine on the floor and spread herself cross his lap, pulling him in for a kiss.

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Sandy stared at his phone in his law office. Kirsten should be calling in any minute letting him know how her first day of school went. Despite his telling her that the kids would love her, she couldn't stop the butterflies from flying in her stomach that morning. When the phone rang Sandy anxiously picked it up, hoping Kirsten still wanted to be an art teacher after the first day of school.

He was relieved when Kirsten said to him excitedly, "I love it! Everything went great!"

"That's great honey, I knew you'd be fine."

"You know Sandy I couldn't have done this without all of your love and support, and to thank you I have a surprise for you. Open the door."

Sandy walked over to the door wondering what the surprise was. A huge smile crept onto his face when he saw his wife standing there smiling back at him.

Kirsten jumped into his arms excitedly.

"What a nice surprise!" Sandy said happily.

"I didn't give you your surprise yet. It's not going to be done for a while. I'm going to renovate your office. Of course you have to choose all the colors, fabrics, and furniture, but I'm going to fix this place up for you. If you want that is. And you don't have to worry, I'll do it on the weekends so I don't disturb you."

"Kirsten I'd love it if you fixed up this place for me! But I want you to do it when I'm here. That way we can spend more time together. You can come after school and do it and I'll come in on the weekends when you do it."

"That sounds good."

"I love you," Sandy said as he put his arms around Kirsten.

"I love you," Kirsten said back smiling.

**Please review.** I spend a lot of time writing these fics and if you're reading them, the least you could do is take a minute and leave me a review. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it!

I'm thinking maybe a chapter about Kirsten redecorating Sandy's office? We'll see. Review and let me know if you want that. I love you reviews.


	7. The Renovations

DISCLAIMER: I don't own The OC or its charaters.

Author's warning: This chapter is a bit more provocative and has more sexuality in it than other chapters.

Author's note: Sorry for the delay in updating this fic. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Please let me know what you think and leave a review!

Surprisingly, Sandy had agreed to let Kirsten renovate his office with whatever she decided to do with the office. He trusted Kirsten and wanted it all to be a surprise, so Kirsten put up a man-made partition that consisted of a clothesline and old sheets so that Sandy wouldn't see what she was doing. He would work on one side, she the other. When they switched sides of the office, Kirsten covered all of the renovations with more old sheets. She didn't want Sandy to see anything till she was completely finished.

One particular day 2 weeks into the renovations, like always, Kirsten happily came into the office after school and greeted Sandy with a kiss on the cheek. She always greeted Sandy when she came in and her greeting was always in the form of a kiss on the cheek. Kirsten never felt comfortable kissing Sandy on the lips while he was working, especially when Don, Sandy's intern, was there. So, with a quick kiss on the cheek and a brief "How was your day" conversation, Kirsten headed off to her side of the office to start her second job after school.

However, on this particular day, Don was working from home so it was just Sandy and Kirsten in the office. After Kirsten's usual greeting, she went over to change out of her school clothes and into something more comfortable. Since the bathroom wasn't accessible yet, Kirsten changed behind the sheets. Every day she did this and every day Sandy couldn't help but stare at the sheets in hopes of getting a glance at his wife's beautiful body. He wished he was on that side of the room with her, helping her undress. He always fantasized that Kirsten would forget her clothes one day and not realize it until she had already undressed out of her school clothes and would be standing in Sandy's office nearly naked. Sandy would then tear down the curtain and take in his wife's beautiful body with his eyes and lips and kiss her passionately and make love to her right there, on the floor of his office amongst the mess of paints, boxes, furniture, and papers.

He couldn't help himself this particular day. When he heard the familiar sound of Kirsten taking off her blouse, he quickly crept around his desk and to the opposite side of the curtain, staring at his beautiful wife as she undressed without him knowing. Unable to control himself, Sandy excitedly said, "You look beautiful!"

"Sandy!" Kirsten shrieked as she turned to face him and grabbed a piece of cardboard, looking for anything to cover herself up a little.

"Kirsten, don't be embarrassed. I can't help it. Everyday I know you come in here and change clothes 30 feet away from me, and I can't help it. You're too beautiful for me to not watch you change clothes," Sandy said with a big smile on his face. He was definitely in the mood.

Kirsten raised her eyebrows, as if she knew where this was going.

"Want to?" Sandy said excitedly.

"Sandy, that's crazy. Not here. What if one of your clients comes in?"

"They won't. I don't see clients after 2, you know that. I'll lock the door. Come on!" Sandy said anxiously as he went over to Kirsten and wrapped his arms around her, giving her big, passionate kisses on her neck and shoulders.

"You're making this decision too easy, Sandy," Kirsten said through moans of pleasure.

"I intended to," Sandy said with a grin.

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Sandy and Kirsten found themselves on the hard floor wrapped in each other's arms and clinging to the bottom of the hanging sheet. Kirsten had insisted they leave it up for some sense of privacy, but now they were both a bit chilly as the hard wood floor touched their bare butts.

Sandy rubbed his hands on Kirsten's arms to warm her up. "This was nice, wasn't it?"

"Mmm, yeah, it was. Good idea!" Kirsten said turning her head towards Sandy giving him a kiss on the lips.

They just stayed there holding each other for a few minutes until they were interrupted by the phone ringing. "I guess I should get that," Sandy said lazily.

"Yeah, you are at work," Kirsten said giggling as she thought about the current situation at hand.

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After that one fun work day, Sandy and Kirsten made every day a fun work day. Sandy made sure that everyone was out of the office by 3 so that he and Kirsten could have some "alone time". Two weeks later, the renovations were complete.

"Already?" Sandy asked with disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah, aren't you excited?" Kirsten asked him.

"I am, but, you know, I guess this means no more fun days at work for me," Sandy said shyly. "I like having you around. You brighten up my day and make it interesting."

"Who's to say that I can't still come back in to help you with office work," Kirsten said with a wink. "Alright, you ready?" Kirsten asked him excitedly as she put her hand over his eyes.

"I'm ready!" Sandy said excitedly.

Kirsten grabbed Sandy's hand and led him into his newly renovated office, taking him to his actual office first. She removed her hand from his eyes to reveal an amazing painting on the wall. It was a painting of everything Sandy loved from New York City. There was a Yankees symbol, Coney Island, and the Manhattan skyline all painted behind Sandy's desk, which was now organized. Although Sandy stood there in awe, Kirsten continued showing him his new office, next showing him all the new furniture she ordered, and then the new shelves that had all of his law books on them. In the middle of the shelves were more personal items, including his first Mont Blanc pen that Kirsten gave to him when he graduated law school, a signed Yankees baseball by one of his favorite players, pictures of Seth and Ryan, and Sandy and Kirsten's wedding picture. In the very middle of the middle shelf was the Cohens' Chrismukkah picture, Sandy's favorite.

"Kirsten, this is all wonderful. I only wish you would have put more pictures of you on the shelves," Sandy said as he looked at all the pictures.

"Sandy, this is your office. It's about you. Not me," Kirsten said humbly.

"Yeah, and I want to see pictures of you in my office. That way, when you're not here helping me with 'office work,' I can at least look at you," Sandy said putting his arms around Kirsten.

"Well you did have this picture in your desk. I wasn't sure if it was there for a reason," Kirsten said as she opened one of the desk drawers and showed Sandy the picture. It was a picture of the two of them at the Berkeley alumni party back in December.

"Ah, I remember this picture. I was looking at it when I was on the phone. I got distracted because Don came over to give me a file and he caught me looking at you in the picture. I was embarrassed and quickly put the picture down. The drawer happened to be opened so I put it there," Sandy said embarrassedly.

"Very amusing, Sandy! I don't want you to lose clients because you're too busy staring at pictures of us!" Kirsten said jokingly.

"Well what can I say, you are beautiful. You know what? I think we'll hang this picture on the wall by my diplomas. This picture was taken on the night this all started…remember? You decided to go back to school, getting back into art again. If it weren't for this, you wouldn't have beautifully decorated my office like this," Sandy said as he hammered a nail into the wall and hung the picture up.

"Yeah, it started back then," Kirsten said smiling as she remembered back to when she decided to get back into art. She was so happy she did. So many good things came out of that trip up to Berkeley.

I hope you enjoyed this fic. Let me know what you though of it overall! In case there are any readers/reviewers who haven't read it yet, I'm writing a new Kandy fic titled "When the Truth Comes Out" so please check it out and let me know what you think of it. Again, thanks to all those reviewers for reviewing!


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